After the Fact: An Understanding
by VeIaRrGtOh
Summary: Updated Before she even knew it, he was behind her. A desperate mission, a lost friend, and understanding one another. Katara, Zuko, Toph and Sokka learn to move on after the events of the fall of Ba Sing Se. Oneshot, kindly read & review.


Hi all! This started out as a oneshot and quickly grew to be a little more involved. I started thinking about Madison's reluctance to be the Dragon Heir, and how things might have turned out if she had never embraced her destiny. In this story you'll get a little look at how I think each of our characters would have fared without Madison's actions. I hope you enjoy! Please review with any thoughts or suggestions.

A/N: I own nothing.

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Any usual day in early November would have delighted Madison Moss into delirium. Usually, this time of late fall was paradise in Ohio – the weather was crisp and chilly without being overwhelming. Winter was close at hand, promising to be wet, freezing and long, but the last of autumn was a beautiful time. Maddie loved to paint it, but try as she might, she could never quite capture the colors of the changing trees as they appeared in nature. And she knew she wasn't supposed to – autumn could never be replicated, but that made her thrill with delight.

Every day this week had been lovely in weather, and she had been perfectly happy all week. But today was different; she was unhappy and she didn't quite know why. This depression had come out of the blue, and Maddie could already feel it ruining her day.

She'd had days like this before of course, for many years now. Some days, all the responsibilities and troubles of her young life would gather before her and make her nervous and sad. She couldn't predict when she would feel like this – it would strike her on random days. She hated the thought that it was some artist personality trait to have "off" days, where she had no way to contain her misery.

She sat on the swing on the front porch of her house in Coal Grove, Ohio, and pondered her feelings, trying to discern what it was exactly that was bothering her. She decided it was probably several things. The approach of the cold months meant making the necessary repairs to the house's old hot water heater so they wouldn't freeze to death that winter, as well as buying new coats for Grace and John Robert, who had grown since last year. It would be frustrating to scrape together the funds she would need.

She also had planned a short trip up to the town of Trinity for tomorrow, to drop off some art projects and visit her cousin Rachel. But before she could make the trip to Trinity she would have to stop and use the remainder of her paycheck to buy gas – her truck was dangerously close to empty.

Worst of all, she had fought last night with Seph McCauley, who had been staying at her house for several weeks now.

She knew her argument with Seph had been a stupid one, and she had blown it way out of proportion – he had offered to take her truck and fill it up so she wouldn't have to before she left for Trinity. It was a purely innocent offer, but Madison had taken offense. Now she bit her lip in frustration. She really should have accepted Seph's offer – after all, he had plenty of money he wasn't using, and he was staying at her house, and he was her… boyfriend. _Yikes_, she thought. Even her subconscious rejected the word. Madison had been so independent her whole life that the idea of calling someone her boyfriend – even Seph, whom she loved completely – was weird. Maybe the idea of Seph as her boyfriend was also contributing to her mood.

Madison frowned. These were all little things that were annoying her. But they weren't the main source of her anxiety. She knew, deep down, that the main reason for her frustrations on this beautiful morning was her fear of her newfound powers.

Weeks earlier, Madison had become heir to a tremendous amount of power – and responsibility. In an attempt to take the Dragonheart stone from Trinity, she had been revealed as the descendent of the Dragonguard, and heir to the powers of the stone. In effect, she was now the ruler of the Weir guilds – wizards, enchanters, warriors, soothsayers and sorcerers – and she had power over them. But it was power that she feared, power that she didn't understand or want.

Seph had allowed her several generous weeks to adjust to her new role. But lately he wanted to talk about her powers and her destiny as the Dragon Heir. Meanwhile she would prefer to not think about it. At all. Madison had never wanted the kind of power that Seph and others wizards harnessed – she had grown up fearing it.

"Good morning," a voice spoke from behind her and she turned to see Seph exiting the front door, a mug of coffee in each hand. He offered her one and sat down beside her on the porch swing. His hair was unruly from sleep, and his eyes looked bleary and puffy, but he still looked utterly handsome. His health had been improving steadily since he came to stay with her in Coal Grove, and he was back to a proper weight and size. He looked at her with slight apprehension.

"Sorry about last night," he said softly, even though of course Madison knew he had nothing to be sorry about. "I was out of line, I didn't mean to say anything or- or hurt your feelings in any way-" he stumbled around the words, and Maddie felt her heart melt as she watched him try to find any way to keep from saying "Sorry if I hurt your feelings because you're poor and I'm not."

She shook her head at him. "Don't bother," she said. "I overreacted. I'm the one who needs to be sorry." Maybe if she fixed things up with Seph, her mood might improve.

He leaned over and kissed her lightly on the cheek, and she smiled faintly.

"Did you want to come with me tomorrow to Trinity?" she asked, changing the subject. "Say hello to everyone?"

Seph took a sip of his coffee. "Not… particularly," he grinned at her sheepishly. "I mean, I miss everyone and all, but I am in no hurry to get back to Trinity just yet if you know what I mean." And she did. She couldn't blame him if he never wanted to return to the scene of the battle with the Roses ever again.

They heard the unmistakable crash of a cereal bowl from the open window behind them. Madison sighed; she could feel her temper flaring now with her rotten mood.

"I'll get them," Seph said quickly, and went back into the house. Madison could hear John Robert making excuses about the fallen cereal bowl, and Seph's low voice assuring him it was alright. Madison put her face in her hands – Seph was a godsend right now. With her current disposition, it would be a different scene entirely if she had gone in to clean it up.

She took a deep, shaky breath and looked out at the yard as the morning sun crept slowly across to the west. A beautiful, beautiful day.

But she couldn't suppress the bad feeling. Everything was different now, and there was no going back. There was a certain finality to the Dragonheart power that now coursed through her fingertips, and she hated the idea of being locked into something for life. She'd been given no choice when it came to the power of the Dragon – it had called to her until she submitted. Now things would never go back to the way they used to be, and she wasn't sure that was a good thing. She had power now, yes, but she had never wanted power. She had wanted to stay out of the stupid wizard wars, but she'd been dragged into them regardless. And now she couldn't shake the feeling that her mood was a direct result of her ignoring the power of the Dragonheart.

In her heart, she wished it was someone else's destiny to be the Dragon Heir – she just wanted to be Madison Moss. She resented the power. She wished she didn't have it, didn't have to bear the responsibility.

She looked out at the yard, and her sadness and fear were so overwhelming today that the beautiful things she usually admired and painted had no shine for her today. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, hoping that at least tomorrow things would look better.


End file.
